View Full Version : Cichlids are eating my new plant
Zelda000
01-26-2003, 12:24 AM
hey i am very very new to live plants, i just recently bought a tank of a friend that came with a 3 live plants, i am sorry dont have there names i will be posting picture tommorow, but any way on is looking really good one jsut about dead and the other is in between. i have 18 small river tilapia cichlids in my tank all about 2/3 an inch each, well yesterday i bought a african sword plant i believe that is waht its called, and todays its looking a little beat up, soo i am wathcing my for a while i i realize the my fish are nipping at it. soo i dont know what to do, i love my fish more that the plants but i really want my tank to be all live plants sorta like a jungle, yet again i am very new to keeping live plants and any tip or comments would be greatly appriciated, and agian i will be posting pictures shortly
125gJoe
01-26-2003, 12:43 AM
Originally posted by Zelda000
........ i love my fish more that the plants but i really want my tank to be all live plants sorta like a jungle, yet again i am very new to keeping live plantsThat's a tough call... Nice fish you want, or nice plants you want?? Some cichlids just won't go well with live plants.
I agree with 80gJoe, what many ciclids don't eat they uproot. Unfortunately you can't have it both ways. Some fish are more perfect for planted tanks than others.
Len
Here are the facts: fish eat plants - plants don't eat fish. If you want to raise plants, get rid of the fish. If you want to raise fish, let them eat the plants until the plants are gone, and then buy some more plants to feed the fish.
Personally, I would only put plants in an aquarium if they made my fish happy. If you want to grow plants, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck planting flowers in your yard than for planting them in some dingy .
Tempest
01-28-2003, 6:11 AM
Paul- I think a lot of the folks in this forum would disagree with your statements. The type of tank you keep /does/ have to be suited to the fishes but most of us keep fish other than the destructive ones in with plants.
What you need to do is experiment with plants you like which are ones that your fish will not eat. I have this problem in a planted 29G where they would eat the plants and not the food I gave them. Then i switched to other plants and they were like "eewwwww!!!" :D
Just my $0.025
Aries
What you need to do is experiment with plants you like which are ones that your fish will not eat. I have this problem in a planted 29G where they would eat the plants and not the food I gave them. Then i switched to other plants and they were like "eewwwww!!!" :D
Just my $0.025
Aries
FishmasteR2002
01-28-2003, 9:55 AM
I do not agree with Paul on this issue as well. If you want your fish to stop eating the plants then you need to up their vegetable intake. Buy some spirulina discs or spirulina flakes(the discs usually have a pic of a Pleco on the can). I used to have this problem but what I do now is at my afternoon feeding instead of giving them flakes i drop a few spirulina discs in the tank and a few shrimp pellets(not to many you want the fish to eat the spirulina). Make sure you evenly spread the discs around the tank. I usually drop one on the left side, one on the right side and on in the middle. Come back in 15 minutes and the fish should have devoured the discs and if not they should be eating it still. Also you can alternate shrimp pellets and freeze dried tubiflex worms or better yet freeze dried plankton(great source of protein). Doing this should keep the fish from eating the plants, unless you have some real tasty plants and your fish just can't help it. :)
OK, OK - I get your point. I was only speaking for myself. I put plants in my aquarium for the benefit of the fish, so I don't care if the fish eat them. But obviously those who want to keep their plants intact should select their fish accordingly.